Page 49 of Deck the Hauls

Emily’s gaze connected with mine. Her face broke into a smile and she raised her hand in greeting. I wanted to go over, see how she was, but she was working—and so was I. My chest tightened as Emily was whisked away by a woman I didn’t recognize.

Charles approached me, frowning. “Dana, I didn’t realize you’d be here tonight. Can you do something different with your hair? You’ll be in the background of some of these shots so we don’t want you to be recognizable as the grumpy waitress. Maybe take out your ponytail and put on a beanie? And if you could smile, that would be great—but not at the camera, remember.”

Goddamnit. I’d be in the background? I looked around. I couldn’t exactly move the stall so I was out of view, and Charles was unlikely to be open to any requests not to film me. At least this time, I wouldn’t have any lines.

I reluctantly pulled my hair out of its ponytail and shook it out. A lot of people thought long hair was labor-intensive, but I found it lower maintenance than short hair. It was practical. I didn’t have to wash or cut it constantly and since I always tied it in a ponytail it didn’t get that knotty either. I rarely bothered with blow drying—I just gave it a vigorous toweling and then tied it up and left it to dry. As long as I didn’t venture outside with wet hair when it was below freezing, it was fine. I knew from experience that icicle hair was not pleasant. I’d had a whole chunk snap off one year when I bumped into the barn door while pulling out a wheelbarrow.

Hannah threw me a red beanie. “Here, have mine.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you don’t want it?”

Hannah shook her head. “No, it’s fine. If I get cold I can just snuggle with George for warmth.” She threw her arm around George’s waist and shot her a look of pure affection.

Kelsey and I used to look at each other like that.

I yanked the beanie on, as if it might help erase the memory.

Hopefully, the cameras would focus on the cute Red Tractor Farm Christmas Tree Pre-orders sign Olivia had made for my stall rather than me. That, along with the fir trees decorating the sides of the stall would have to help with publicity, right?

The crew finished setting up. Charles stood near the Rosedale Estate stall, talking through something with Austin and Emily.

Emily’s brow furrowed in concentration as Charles pointed to the entrance to the market, and then toward Olivia’s wreath stall. Meanwhile, Austin was chewing gum, his eyes following two women in their early twenties as they walked toward the barn. Charles clapped his hands and Austin spat his gum onto the ground. Gross.

The cameras and microphones were shifted into position and Emily and Austin took their places at the entrance to the market.

“Action!” Charles yelled.

Emily and Austin strolled toward us as the main camera glided along tracks next to them, capturing the shot. Emily laughed, throwing back her head, and clutched Austin’s arm. A knot formed in my stomach.

It’s not real. She’s just an amazing actress. Even if it were real, I had no right to be jealous.

Austin’s arm snaked behind Emily, wrapping around her back. Emily shot Austin a look of adoration, not unlike the gaze I’d just witnessed Hannah give George.

My stomach twisted.

I strained to hear what Emily was saying to Austin. She was just reciting a script. Maybe if I heard her words it would seem less real. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at myself in case it was caught on camera. Look at all the cameras. Look at all the crew. This is clearly not real.

Emily and Austin stopped in front of Olivia’s stall.

The cameras were almost certainly capturing me in the background. Shit. I was meant to be smiling. I plastered a smile on my face.

Austin put his hands around Emily’s hips and pulled her close, nodding at the greenery on the top of Olivia’s stall.

I tried not to let my smile falter.

The greenery was mistletoe.

Goddamnit.

I really, really did not want to watch this. I really, really did not feel like smiling right now. But turning my head away in disgust would almost certainly attract Charles’s wrath and require a redo of the scene. And while the thought of Emily kissing Austin made me sick to my stomach, Emily kissing him twice was even worse. No, I had to just keep that smile—which was feeling more like a grimace every second—and focus on something that wasn’t Emily and Austin. My eyes fell on the giant blow-up gingerbread man decoration that Emily and I had erected on Friday. Just stare at the gingerbread man. I focused on its beady eyes, but despite my best efforts, I could still see Austin and Emily leaning toward each other, their mouths meeting, Austin’s hand pulling Emily even closer to him. My plan to fixate on the gingerbread man’s beady eyes fell by the wayside. I watched like it was a car crash unfolding, my stomach swirling, as Austin and Emily kissed, trying as hard as I could to maintain the smile on my face.

Austin’s hand dropped to Emily’s butt.

“Cut!” Charles yelled. “Austin, this is a HolLove movie. We can’t have anything too explicit. No hands on butts, okay? Let’s start the kiss again. And Emily, can you look a little more into it?”

They were going to do the whole kiss again? I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath, and opened them just in time to see a smirk flash across Austin’s face.

Are you kidding me? Did he do that on purpose? I clenched my fists. What a dick.